“We need to raise £18,000
to get to the point where we can put in a stage one Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) bid. We would be looking to do this around March next year
and would expect a decision in June.”

If successful the trust would use the stage one money to put together its stage two bid.“We need to produce an economic development study for creative industries in North Devon,” added Mr Rodney-Jones.

“We also need to do some more feasibility work based around Alastair’s ideas.”

The trust has already been
granted a £5,000 grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund and a
£1,000 economic development grant from North Devon Council.

It has applied for a £10,000 Resilient Heritage ‘start-up’ grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund

“If all goes ahead we could get the cash and get the go-ahead in early 2018,” said Mr Rodney-Jones.

“The
church seems quite happy with that timescale and we are trying to
encourage them to see the space as a use for concerts etc.

“They have put their application to demolish on hold – they are
giving us a chance to raise that money. This really is a last ditch
effort.”